How did a newspaper that once represented a progressive alternative to the status quo ultimately come to be firmly identified with the state itself?

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February 2, 2012

When Spanish daily El País began publication nearly four decades ago, it represented a vanguard force in the country’s stifled political and cultural climate, a progressive alternative to the status quo. Yet over the years, El País‘s tendency to prop up many of the claims made by the young Spanish democracy left gaps in its coverage. This became especially apparent after massive protests erupted in May 2011 protesting the march of austerity and other ills of Spanish society. The protests created “a moment that demands a new kind of journalist outlook,” as Jonathan Blitzer argues in this video.

In 2007, the newspaper Público emerged as a new voice to the left of El País. Blitzer explains how El País‘s journey to the mainstream of Spanish political culture leaves lingering questions about how both papers will fare as Spain’s period of transition and change continues. For more on El País, Público and the journalistic climate in Spain, read Blitzer’s article in this week’s issue of The Nation, The Future Is Not What it Used to Be.